Disposable absorbent products for absorption of bodily fluids are available in different types, designs, and dimensions. For example, training pants, baby diapers, adult diapers, and incontinence guards are products designed for the containment of urine and excrement. There are other types of disposable absorbent articles, such as feminine hygiene products (e.g., heavy and light incontinence pads, pantiliners) that are designed to contain and absorb urine and/or menses secreted by female wearers. Known products of this type typically include a topsheet facing the body of the wearer, a backsheet facing the garment worn by the wearer, and an absorbent core sandwiched between the topsheet and backsheet.
Products of the type described above are known to be packaged in flexible, polymeric films that completely envelop a stack of the products. These products may be compressed prior to being packaged, and introduced into an open bag formed from the flexible film or otherwise enclosed by the flexible film. The bag or, generally, the film is then typically sealed and the resulting package of disposable absorbent products moved to another stage of the manufacturing process, or to a staging area for further disposition. Often it is desirable to print, on the outer surface of the package, identifying information associated, for example, with a production date, time, and/or other production details of the disposable absorbent products contained in the package. To that end, known processes are known that print identifying information on a transparent portion of one of the walls of the package, for example. In processes of that type for packaging disposable absorbent products that have graphic displays on their outer surfaces, these displays may interfere with the ability of a user or even of manufacturing personnel to read the identifying information. This, in turn, may cause unnecessary delays in the disposition of finished packages or in the overall ability of a user to obtain information associated with the manufacturing of the products contained in the bag.
In addition to the above, packages of disposable products are known that have selected portions that are transparent and other portions that are opaque. Further, transparent portions are known to provide certain advantages, such as allowing the buyer to see a general shape, feature, or predominant color of the product contained in a package resting on a store shelf, or permitting the user to see the number of products left in a package. But transparent portions may offer certain disadvantages. For example, in the case of products made for children, the transparent portions may eliminate the element of surprise that children arc known to appreciate, by easily disclosing the graphic displays that are present on the product.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a package of disposable absorbent products, and related methods, that address these and other drawbacks of conventional packages.